1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cryptography and in particular to networking cryptography.
2. Description of Related Art
SSL/TLS is the de facto method of encrypting information over the public Internet, particularly for e-commerce applications. SSL/TLS is a protocol that operates between Layer 4 (called the Transport Layer) and Layer 5 (called the Session Layer) of the OSI protocol stack. Typically, the Layer 4 protocol used for SSL/TLS is TCP while protocol for Layer 5-7 (sometimes referred to as the Application Layer as an aggregate layer) is HTTPS (secured).
SSL/TLS basically encrypts the Application Layer information which commonly is HTTPS data which might contain sensitive financial records or passwords or credit card numbers for purchasing products from an e-commerce website. The benefit to consumers of using SSL/TLS is that their financial transactions are secured to a very high degree over the public Internet. Today, the most common key size of 1,024 bits is thought to be unbreakable for at least 5-10 years by some estimates. SSL/TLS is supported in almost all major web browsers such as MS Explorer and Netscape Navigator.